The Church: People or Place?

My church doesn't have pews with velvet cushions, an organ, a choir, or even an acoustic piano. We meet in a bingo hall set up with folding chairs, a portable stage, and blue curtains that are taken down each Sunday night. Our piano is an electric piano, and there are exactly two small rooms to use for Sunday School.

Maybe you do have a fancy building to meet in for worship. Or maybe your church is like mine and meets in a makeshift location, like a school gym. Maybe it frustrates you sometimes; maybe you wish that your church could be more like a "real" church.

But what exactly makes a church "real"?

Church: Building or Body?
The word "church" doesn't actually refer to the physical building. It refers to the group of people that meet inside that building to worship.

If you think about that, it makes total sense. A church could meet outside in a park and it would still be a "real" church. The people, not the building, make the church what it is.

So it doesn't matter if you meet in a cathedral, bingo hall, or even a movie theater (no, I'm not joking, I know someone whose church actually does meet in a movie theater!). All that makes a church real is a group of people who love the Lord coming together to worship Him.

A Body with Many Parts and Purposes
One of the most well-known Bible passages about the church is 1 Corinthians 12:12-31. It says this:

"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body...For the body does not consist of one member but of many...If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." (verses 12-27)

When you look around your church, you probably see many different people in different stages of life and faith. And that's okay! God made us all different, with different gifts and talents.

What 1 Corinthians is saying is that all of us are individuals, but as part of a church we are also part of one whole. We all have different roles in the church, and together we are what keeps it going, just like hands, eyes, and feet all have different roles to play in your physical body.

Stay Together in Faith
Differences are good, but they should never drive us apart within the church. After all, the group of people inside the building worshiping together and encouraging each other is what gives the church life.

What do you think? Does your church meet in an actual church building or a makeshift space? Do you think your church is unified in one whole? What do you think your role is within your church community?

P.S. Check out this related post: Why Go to Church?